‘Hurricane’ Halmo blows through Spruce Grove

‘Hurricane’ Halmo blows through Spruce Grove

Halmo is ready to not only reclaim, but crush that new benchmark. He pedalled his way through Spruce Grove on Tuesday, Oct. 2, dressed in a Flash Suit, and made sure to stop by the local Peavy Mart to tell residents all about it.

Losing his world record for longest distance travelled on a motorized E-bike did not sit well with Danny ‘Hurricane’ Halmo.

The 59-year-old who lives in Langley B.C. is currently on a cross-country tour the regain a Guinness World Record.

After a gruelling two years and more than 12,000 kilometres travelled across the country on his E-bike, Halmo received his official Guinness World Record in 2013. During that time, Halmo raised 6.4 tonnes of food for the food bank, to go with the 107 tonnes of food already raised for Hurricane Katrina survivors, earning him his now well-known nickname.

But before the ink could dry on his record, a competitor from the United States of America stole it from under him just over 13,000 kilometres. Now, Halmo is ready to not only reclaim, but crush that new benchmark. He pedalled his way through Spruce Grove on Teusday, Oct. 2, dressed in a Flash Suit, and made sure to stop by the local Peavy Mart to tell residents all about it.

Danny âHurricaneâ Halmo is travelling across the country on his E-bike to reclaim his Guinness World Record.Josh Thomas /
Rep/Ex Staff

“The Americans might hold my Guinness record right now, and I respect that, he had to deal with 10 times the traffic, a worse road system and more debris. I feel safe and confident on our roads, I have high visibility, and I’m 59 years old, I’ve got experience being the top electric vehicle Guinness Record setter in the world,” said Halmo.

To do so, he uses the Genze E-101 sport bike, with a modified trailer attached. To his knowledge, the E-bike trailer combo is the first of it’s kind on the planet. He began the trip on Aug. 28 in Vancouver, and plans to go a total of 16,900 kilometres.

By adding a second motorized bike to the trailer Halmo is able to better distribute weight, and therefore can travel further on a single charge.

“I took a second bike and built the world’s first motorized electric trailer. Now I 14410320have twice the power and I’m still within the legal limit for an E-bike, because the Genze bike is a 250 watt bike, with a 32 kilometre top speed, and you can pedal it,” said Halmo.

When he is running low on battery, Halmo stops off at one of Sun-Country Eco-Rides over 4,000 country-wide charging stations, located at Peavey Marts, where the Genze E-Bikes are sold. This has allowed Halmo to complete the trip unsupported.

“Every Peavy Mart has an electric car charger. People need to know the sun country highway is the largest electrified highway system in the world. We have over 4,000 chargers across the country and they’re all free. You can drive around Canada’s roads in a 100 per cent electric car, and it’s free,” said Halmo.

In addition to his record for longest distance travelled on an electric (non-solar) vehicle, Halmo owns the Guinness World record for longest journey on a motorized bicycle. Two more records are currently pending.

He’s also the executive director of the self created, Formula Electric Vehicle Entertainment and Racing (FEVER), and is in talks with the Forumula E-racing’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, to bring the world’s first ever 24-hour electric race to Canada.

“We intend to bring the world’s only 24-hour electric vehicle race to Canada, for a $1 million cash prize, and the whole thing would be broadcast on a live feed. There will be 24 university teams from all over the world coming to compete in Canada,” said Halmo.

For now, Halmo will keep his attention on Trekking across the country on his Genze E-101. Though the bike comes with an $1,800 price tag, the fast talking, high spirited Halmo said the bike more than pays for itself.

“I’m travelling for a penny per kilometre. People say they’re expensive, but they’re not. This is my 14th bike in seven years, and with the money I save by driving these, it’s enough in gasoline and transportation to by a new bike every year. This bike can pay itself off in six months.

Through his adventures, Halmo hopes to shed lights on the physical, mental, and financial benefits of owning an E-bike. But first, he has declared the ‘Guinness World Record War Games’ officially underway.